Electrolosis Barrel pics

[bk-scouter 93]

Brian and Chris,

Please post those pictures tomorrow when you pull those parts out of the barrel. I'm very interested on how well this works.

Chris, I love the idea of wire mesh...

So, what do you do with the water afterwards?? Is it safe to dump into the ground?

(sorry, it's the "green guy" in me that needs to know)

-BK

[kpinnc 10,736]

So, what do you do with the water afterwards?? Is it safe to dump into the ground?

(sorry, it's the "green guy" in me that needs to know)

To my knowledge, it'll just be rusty baking soda water. There was very little grease on my parts, so that shouldn't be an issue.

But, the water is reusable for electrolosis, so I doubt mine will be dumped for some time.

And the wire mesh appears to be the ticket. I'm using a charger nearly identical to Brian's, and it's cutting off every 45 minutes or so from heat at the lowest amperage setting. Apparently, the more surface area you have on the positive side, the more amps are drawn. After 4 hours I now have about an inch of rusty crud floating on top of the water. The smaller parts in there are already clean, and they were quite rusty.

Kevin

[linen beige 14]

I have been unable to find washing soda (sodium carbonate/soda ash) here, but plain old baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is converted to sodium carbonate/soda ash by baking it at 350 for an hour or so. Baking soda will work as is but works faster if converted to soda ash.

I understand soda ash is also sold as swimming pool PH treatment, but costs a little more. I've been using Arm and Hammer powdered laundry detergent. It seems to be working alright.

[Coadster32 793]

(along with indoor plumbing, electricity, high school, and dental hygene)

The wire mesh is great for surrounding the part.. BUT (you knew that was coming)When it's time to clean the mesh, and knock the rust off of it, it might be tricky to do so. I use sheet metal. I can take the plate out, scrape the rust off of it, and stick it back into the tank. I do this repeatedly untill I litereally rust through the plate untill it's like paper. When the cathode, (sacraficial peice) gets corroded, you need to clean it. If you can watch the amps while it's working, you'll notice as the cathode gets rusted up, the amp draw goes down. When this happends, not much is going on in the tank, and it's time to clean the cathode. I have been using the same tank and water for 2months now. I haven't a need to discard the water, and rust from it yet. (projects and ideas just keep coming).

I p/u a 401 last Friday. It was left outside for a long time, and very rusted together. I couldn't even get the front tire off. By luck, the rear tires came off (after some persuasion.), of course the hubs were rusted on. The tranny bolts were locked-rusted up. I stuck the whole tractor in the tank, tranny and all. Four days later, I pulled it out, and unbolted the tranny like it was put together yesterday. No exageration. I had to clean the plate once a day. No energy needed. No broken knuckles (see Duke for that) . Butter.

Jeff- Glad you had good luck with this. :drool:

[kpinnc 10,736]

The wire mesh is great for surrounding the part.. BUT (you knew that was coming)When it's time to clean the mesh, and knock the rust off of it, it might be tricky to do so. I use sheet metal. I can take the plate out, scrape the rust off of it, and stick it back into the tank.

I got a whole roll. I was gonna pull it out, and throw it away when needed. Scrapyards take rusty scrap too, and I keep them "well stocked"...

This is my first run with this, and I am quite pleased so far!

I'm using baking soda, and I think I've seen the benefit of the detergent. Everyone else's pics show fairly clean stuff on top, which would be the result of using a detergent. Mine looks like the bottom of a septic tank....

Kevin

[WH854 44]

You can buy Arm And Hammer Washing Soda in the laundry soap section in most super markets. I know Giant Eagle has it here in Butler. Big Boxes too.

Chas.

[Brian1045 28]

Ok..It's been about 24 hours or so since the project here got under way. All in all I'm pretty impressed for using nothing more than a 15 amp charger, water, and baking soda. For what I had to work with I'll give it a 8 outta 10.

Any pitting that is on your metal will be even more visible, unlike sanding it may remove some of it. The black area on my V belt cover seems to be the pitting from possibly a battery leaking.

I think I'll mostly use this process for rims and things like that, or parts that seem to be froze up pretty good.

I ordered some soda wash from ebay...so we'll see how it does when it arrives.

Notice the red area from which i hung the part that stayed out of the tank...big difference.

ending tank result.

[kpinnc 10,736]

My results were VERY similar Brian. I'm not a fan of the orange goo, but it certainly works! I also used baking soda.

I cleaned up an old tiller casing, and it was solid heavy, scaly rust before I put it in the tank. It's MUCH better now:

Just wiped it down, and it's smooth as the day it was made. I also cleaned an old PTO bearing. Here it is:

The stuff inside it is from the tank- It's not rust. It seems that polished metals come out better as far as coloration is concerned. But I have no problems whatsoever with the end results on cast iron, I assure you.

I'm a believer. And 50 cents for baking soda sure is cheaper than paying someone to blast parts. Not to mention, I have none of the damage to anything that a blaster can cause. Polished working surfaces look new and shiny, and no need to mask them.

Kevin

[Rollerman 290]

Brian, Kevin glad to see you like your results.

I got started on my tank after reading a thread from Sorekiwi "Mike" & am sold on the process.

Kinda funny...stopped in on a friend early today who restores Oliver tractors.

He was outside blasting when I pulled up.

We got to talking & I brought up the electrolysis process...he had bever heard of it.

He had some scrap metal, battery, charger & big plastic watering trough laying around.

We almost had it together before I left...he had to run to town for washing soda.

Just got off the phone with him about 45 minutes ago & he was really excited & happy with the results he was getting so far.

Kinda rambling...but thought I'd share.

[wheelhorsecravins 0]

thanks duff, how did I do???

[Duff 206]

thanks duff, how did I do???

Mike, I think you're on the right track - I don't see any pictures in your latest post, but I also don't see any quoted text. Maybe I'm missing something?

Duff :drool:

[kpinnc 10,736]

Brian, Kevin glad to see you like your results.

I got started on my tank after reading a thread from Sorekiwi "Mike" & am sold on the process.

Stephen, I started a second tank tonight. Whatever you do, do NOT use any copper or galvanized steel anywhere in it, no matter how small the amount. My first tank used both, and it looked exactly like Brian's does above. The orange paste comes from using non-ferrous metals, and the zinc in the galvanized wire turned the water into green slime. Parts are unharmed, but they are a MESS to clean up afterward. My second batch is running strong now with all steel, and it's as clean as a pin. Looks like a giant Alka-Seltzer in the tank (like Puddlejumper's in the first post), and it's gonna be MUCH easier to clean the parts after removal.

And baking soda works like a champ. Absolutely NO problems at all.

Kevin

[puddlejumper 67]

Puddlejumper's Dad has an idea and is wanting feedback:

What if a person was to make his tank from a steel tank, ie: horse trough. I know the tank would become sacrificial and might need insulated from the ground. But, the question is: would there be enough surface area that you could do a whole lawn tractor project before transferring your soda/water mixture to a holding tank while you cleaned your working tank, or alternate between 2 tanks? And, how many projects could you do before the tank looked like swiss cheese? Talk about 360 degree line of sight!!!!!!!

[sorekiwi 761]

Puddlejumper's Dad has an idea and is wanting feedback:

What if a person was to make his tank from a steel tank, ie: horse trough. I know the tank would become sacrificial and might need insulated from the ground. But, the question is: would there be enough surface area that you could do a whole lawn tractor project before transferring your soda/water mixture to a holding tank while you cleaned your working tank, or alternate between 2 tanks? And, how many projects could you do before the tank looked like swiss cheese? Talk about 360 degree line of sight!!!!!!!

I havent done it (yet!) but I have wondered the same thing about using a 55 gallon drum. I'm thinking with that much surface area that it might not get too nasty too quickly either.

One thought about the horse trough though, arent they galvanized? I think galvanizing makes the mix go bad.

Let us know how it works out!

[puddlejumper 67]

I just was using a horse trough as an example, oil drum, fuel tanks whatever a man can lay his hands on should work. That way if it turns into swiss cheese, you're not out anything.

[Coadster32 793]

FYI-- I rotted thru two 55 gallon drums. It does indeed work good. Hook the positive right up the barrel, and float your part in th middle. The only problem is that the tank rusts thru the welds at the bottom of the tank. Empties the tank right out. (ready or not, here I come). Much better long term results with the plastic garbage can setup.

[puddlejumper 67]

How long did it take to rot through? I knew it would, I was just wondering how long I would have before it did.

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,040]

I went to the local car wash and they sold me a nice 55 gallon plastic drum that held the car wash soap. It was nice and clean and they already cut the top off. $15 bucks is not too bad.

[WHC-125 4]

Steve, thanks for the idea I am gonna try and pick one up :omg:

[tgranthamfd 28]

I know it is probably in here somewhere, but what is the mix ratio per gallon using the soda wash? I tried it at 1 tbls per gal. in a 5 gal bucket using an old mower blade on one side and an old celler door hinge across from it with elec. fence wire connecting it, also used the fence wire to hang the part from a cleaned metal rod for the neg. end of it. It is working well, but it sure is slow. Do I have an isue with the $3.50 set up? It's a trial run, plan to do it up right the next trip. What do you guys think?

[Coadster32 793]

what is the mix ratio per gallon using the soda wash?

Just stir some in. When you turn it on, you should see it start to bubble. If it doesn't, add more. Don't really need a ratio. More doesn't work any better, or worse. Soda is cheap enough, so I used a 1/2 box on a 55gallon drum full. Cheers!

[HorseFixer 2,012]

All this washing soda and baking soda make me want to take a bath and bake a cake

:drool:

[puddlejumper 67]

I'm not an expert either, but it sounds like you need more sacrificial surface area around the outside perimeter of your tank.

[buckrancher 2,675]

FYI-- I rotted thru two 55 gallon drums. It does indeed work good. Hook the positive right up the barrel, and float your part in th middle. The only problem is that the tank rusts thru the welds at the bottom of the tank. Empties the tank right out. (ready or not, here I come). Much better long term results with the plastic garbage can setup.

see if you can find a over pack plastic drum for a 55 gallon drum it's large enough

to put a steel 55 gallion drum inside then you would'nt have to worry about

getting holes and the water leaking out. I know trucking companys keep these

around in case they rupture a drum

[Coadster32 793]

Thanks for the tip. I had the idea before, but didn't know where to get a slighly bigger drum than a 55gal. I rotted thru them in about a weeks time. They rust through where the bottom meets the sides. So.. ready or not, the part's done!! :omg: